Whoa! Reddit is a fun place sometimes, but gets easily fooled (shame on you!). Now why would we ever ban a guy for building a farm? Here is the true story of when reddit was fooled in putting the wrong guy on the frontpage:

A single post concerning our server just blew all other posts, ever, out of the water (537 comments, 1536 points!). Too bad it is defamatory, dishonest and blatantly untrue :(

The post generated a lot of hate and misunderstanding (you could say it griefed our server) - but it was all wrong! I feel the need to clarify things to the splendid people of /r/Minecraft and show you how you have been deceived, so here is our side of the story:

Some real facts:

1) Blessedfalcon was definitely not banned for building a carrot farm. That is blatantly untrue. Here is why:

2) In fact, Blessedfalcon is not currently banned from the server at all (!). wasn't banned at the time of posting (!) but was temp banned 4 days earlier (and appealed and reinstated in the morning after) for not answering an admin after repeatedly asking about very very strange behaviour. Quote one of our admins on our forum:

23 May 2013, 20:56 *"Lava doesn't work. You were running through towns looking for places to drop it. The logs are filled with your attempts.

I then asked you about six times via in-game /msg to talk with me, and then asked you again in local and then global chat twice and you ignored me.

So a ban it is.

If you care to state your case in the forum, then I'll be happy to listen."*

Followed by:

24 May 2013, 08:47 *"ok, ban lifted. Next time, when someone with a red name repeatedly in-game PMs you, asks in local AND in general to get your attention. DO NOT ignore them. Could've saved everyone a lot of effort to have a quick conversation."
*

3) Maturity clarification: Our server is by grown-ups for grown-ups. We do accept late teenagers though. Blessedfalcon is born 1996, I'm born in the 70's as are the other two owners. All server mods/admins are 20+ in age. All talk or comparisons that we aren't running a serious and mature server or indeed banning for no good reasons is pretty ridiculous.

4) Where does the farm come in? Blessedfalcon was a member of a Towny town on the server, where the Mayor and staff of the town showed displeasure with the carrot farm in question due to the fact that it is literally 2 blocks outside the towny border. This is also against the server rules (which must be accepted to join at all) where it says the absolute minimum limit without permission is 128 blocks distance (we have A LOT of space in many worlds - so it is not a problem).

Now I'm sure Blessedfalcon had the best intentions for building it - perhaps for helping the town and probably got frustrated that the mayor didn't want it there (who lashed out a bit hard to be honest - but he is a regular player, not an admin) and he didn't want to clean up after himself according to the towns actual plans.

We were actively trying to solve the issue, and was making progress... then we find that post on our favorite reddit!

Frustration does not excuse a completely misleading and blatantly lying post on /r/Minecraft!

There was no ban for any of this. Indeed, we didn't even want to do it for that post. But wait! There is more...

Now (today!) we find out he is "high" on the whored karma of his recent /r/Minecraft success - and is trying to "steal" away players to some other server he got offered to build the farm on - including our resident streamer, who is the actual mayor he had the difference with (ROFL?).

2013-05-28 16:14:13 [INFO] blessedfalcon -> FixarJocke: I also have an idea
[INFO] FixarJocke -> blessedfalcon: what?
[INFO] blessedfalcon -> FixarJocke: seeing how I made the front page of reddit
[INFO] blessedfalcon -> FixarJocke: I have some influence while people still remember me
[INFO] blessedfalcon -> FixarJocke: I may be able to get a few 100 streamers to your channel
[INFO] FixarJocke -> blessedfalcon: what do you mean?
[INFO] blessedfalcon -> FixarJocke: do you know what reddit is?
[INFO] FixarJocke -> blessedfalcon: yeah i found out like 1-2 days ago
[INFO] blessedfalcon -> FixarJocke: well I made the front page yesterday
[INFO] FixarJocke -> blessedfalcon: nice glass block on the arena -.-
[INFO] blessedfalcon -> FixarJocke: oh sorry :L
[INFO] FixarJocke -> blessedfalcon: i know and some got really pissed what you said there
[INFO] FixarJocke -> blessedfalcon: you wasnt really banned becuse of that big farm you know lol
[INFO] blessedfalcon -> FixarJocke: are you streaming right now
[INFO] FixarJocke -> blessedfalcon: not yet, we can talk abit more alone like this and no1 will know
[INFO] blessedfalcon -> FixarJocke: okay
[INFO] blessedfalcon -> FixarJocke: mak says I can use my bullshiting skills for good
[INFO] blessedfalcon -> FixarJocke: because reddit thinks I was banned, I can tell them Im
[INFO] blessedfalcon -> FixarJocke: rebuilding a gaint carrot farm on a new server
[INFO] blessedfalcon -> FixarJocke: and you can live stream it
[INFO] FixarJocke -> blessedfalcon: why do i need to live stream the big carrot farm? dont get it
[INFO] blessedfalcon -> FixarJocke: it can get you a bunch of viewers and new server players
[INFO] FixarJocke -> blessedfalcon: i dont really need the boost, its okay thanks anyway
[INFO] blessedfalcon -> FixarJocke: well they were asking me to rebuild it on a new server
[INFO] blessedfalcon -> FixarJocke: basically I was planning on building a green house around it

(Really doesn't seem to look highly on reddit... He thinks he can fool and mislead you obviously...)

Case closed:

We don't like to ban much (other than verified cheaters), rather make things work out. But sadly, there will probably be a ban now - so I guess might be right in the end getting banned over a "carrot farm". We don't want this kind of lying, weaseling, disruptive player in our community (which is quite nice btw!).

How can we then motivate this ban? We got a lot of flack for being "arbitrary". Well, it is all pretty clear to me in the server rules plenty are broken, let's have a look at a few:

Important rule #1: This server is intended for mature adults with more than half a brain and we expect EVERYONE here to behave accordingly.

I would dare say that rule was broken... several times indeed... Including lying to /r/Minecraft about being banned!

2. Be courteous and respect others. Agree to disagree. No fighting, namecalling etc. This includes not heckling or demeaning lower ranks or the Tourists!

Hmm.. this one too

3. Real world legal and societal laws and rules apply! Just use your common sense, if somebody would not like if you did it in the real world - don't do it here.

Rule definitely broken in several ways

8. Aim to build within reasonable distance from each other. Minimum distance before it is customary to ask for permission is 128 blocks (=Normal Render Distance), you can also measure this with a blaze rod.

**
100% verified broken (the farm). Note: We never ever banned someone for breaking this rule - including him. We always just tend to just sort it out. The rule is there not to even end up in this situation.
**

10. Always obey the admins & moderators (red color names). Report misbehaviour, grief, exploits and bugs to staff using the forum, pm's, or mumble. Do no bother them unnecessarily, and NEVER EVER bother us for op or admin rights.

Rule Broken! Did not follow directions or listen at all...

Blessedfalcon, let this be a learning lesson. I truly hope you mature up in the future and learn not to go about bullshitting in this way. Nothing good will come of it.

/OM

UPDATE: And we have a reply/explanation below from Blessedfalcon himself

UPDATE2: It was deleted (though reposted by others)

UPDATE3: We had a little chat on the server - he wasn't banned, only demoted to "Tourist" class. I think he feels rather bad about the whole situation he caused. But the admin team agreed it wasn't a good fit for us and that it was better he play somewhere else. Anyway, we aren't banning or fighting and everything went better than expected :)

UPDATE4: Wow, did not expect this much response! #1 on /r/Minecraft = Crazy. Thanks for all the supporting comments for us who try to do server administrating right. And I guess, some thanks to BF for forcing it out in the open (and sorry to you who can't handle the "drama")

UPDATE5: And now we are near drowning in the RDOS (Reddit Denial of Service) - I did not intend for this to be a server infomercial! We have great dedicated hardware, but running full viewdistance and tons of advanced plugins for a small-medium sized server, with manual handling of all users, we are not equipped to handle the unexpected RDOS. If the server lags or is plain too full, please come back another time (when business as usual - off reddit)...

UPDATE6: The RDOS is over/diminshed and we just officially passed the "other" post in comments, 539 vs 537 (at the time this was made). And the vast majority of that is on the positive side. Wow, never thought that was gonna happen. Thanks for the love /r/Minecraft, I love you right back!

The weird part is how obsessed he is with carrot farms. he's not seeking money or fame, he only wants attention and more conspirators to build another bigger carrot farm. And to livestream building it. WTF? Why is this dude so obsessed with carrot farms? Why did he even build one that big in the first place?

Well, to be fair, as ridiculous as it is to to think someone was banned over something as petty as a carrot farm, it's even more ridiculous that someone would make up a story about a fake ban over a carrot farm.

True.. but what is even more ridiculous is a random stranger posting personal drama on reddit and people taking his version of a story as fact.

Ban stories on the internet are a great source of humorous content. XBox Live and GW2 are two great examples where people post their complaint regarding their ban along with their story. Then someone with the actual information posts what actually happened and it's not just a misinterpretation by the person that got banned.. it's a complete fabrication and outright lie.

Either the person being banned is so stupid they think the company/admin won't have access to information to support the ban.. or more likely, they just want to spread bad publicity as a means of retaliation for the ban.

Either way.. the community that eats it up and takes OP at their word is the real sucker.

Steam forums as well, especially since no one on the Steam forums can do anything about a ban (last time I checked anyways, which was a year or two ago.)

I'm amazed that the story was taken seriously; there was even a post that didn't "support" DDoS but implied that the server deserved one. All on the word of a stranger..

Can Minecraft IDs be changed aside from buying another copy of the game? I assume this person's Minecraft ID is also BlessedFalcon and his actions could haunt him for awhile if people recognize him. Or her (who am I kidding.)

I used to moderate a server a while back, and the second I saw that post I assumed he did something wrong and was whining. That's how moderation works: Do something wrong -- Get banned -- Mods are Hitler -- Cry on forums. Sure, sometimes there are malicious admins/mods, but 90% of cases are just stupid kids lying through their teeth.

I've run quite a few game servers and this is almost always the case. Doesn't matter what they did, they'll find a way to weasel out of it or make you look bad. It does get tiresome after a while as well...

Oh lordy, on my server's subreddit, there's an immortalized thread where the server sysadmin just destroys a bunch of people he banned for using server hacks. Sysadmin intentionally uses the wrong termonology, the banned correct him and explain what they did, sysadmin tells then he knew and just wanted confirmation, then proceeds to go ham on them.

From the sounds of things your server seems pretty nice. I'm rather considering to join (or send in an application or what have you). Could you PM me with a few basic things about said server? i.e. world size, restrictions, etc. I've been looking for a good, mature server for a while, but I've never really found one where I felt comfortable. So... Yeah :)

I love how BlessedFalcon set out to slander the server's name and in the process led a bunch of people to find interest in joining it due to how the owner handled the situation. I will definitely be checking the server out/applying.

Agreed. Back in my raiding days of a certain MMO, we had a young bloke who, if he hadn't spoken on TeamSpeak (yes, it was a few years ago), his writing style and ability to skate a conversation socially made me believe that he was far older than the 15 years that he really was.

It still surprises me how critical reddit is of other people's servers. If I took the time and money out to run a server it is completely within my right to run it as I see fit and it is your right not to join it or leave. That being said if I were banned from a server for what I thought was an unjust reason I'd wipe my hands of it and move on without running and crying to a forum about it.

I wouldn't even see the need to justify a ban, a server is not some kind of democracy, it's something a person, or a group, runs with their money and time. They do what they want with it (as long as it's legal of course).

Yeah, I was banned once from a server for what I thought was an unjust reason and I haven't even mentioned it to anyone aside from this comment. It's completely uninteresting, just go to another of the panoply of servers available.

It is rather shitty though when you invest a large amount of time into a server and the admin decides to go on a power trip. I've run several servers myself and I do agree that sometimes and admin has to come off as a dick in order to keep the server running at all, but people who are an admin should still consider the time investment that other players are putting into their server. Sure the admin doesn't owe them anything, but it's still a dick move to just delete a large build someone created or ban them for no good reason.

All of /u/Blessedfalcon deleted comments 1.)Well taken care of Origin. 2.)Hear me out. I'd like for others to see this also. I'm clearly not in a good place right now but hear me out. Yes I lied about getting banned for a carrot farm. I did however fully expect to get banned for the farm. The problem was it took around two days to build I understood I built it in the wrong place, however knowing I was going to be asked to clean it up, it wasn't worth the labour. I had made the decision that if the farm was not to be allowed I would allow myself to get banned or quit the server. I know so far this sounds bad but please keep listening. Now I had not expected my post to be popular at all, it went viral and made it to the number 1 minecraft post quickly. I knew that there were players from the server who used reddit so I obviously wouldn't want it to turn into a big controversy. The time I was banned, which wasn't stated by Original was a mistake by an admin. The logs had displayed lava being attempted to place everywhere. I came across a lava pool and was using buckets to remove the lava and placing them, which would cause lava to disappear. I later went AFK and I guess one of the admins tried to msg me about the logs, either that or I somehow missed the msgs, I was not ignoring him. The ignoring part was never cleared up as I didn't put it in my original appeal... I confess I did fully intend to use reddit to get the town owner streamers, and also more server players. However Original mis interpreted my Private messages. I wanted to rebuild the carrot farm (it was world edited to a new location) and put a greenhouse on it. Not on my server (I don't own one?) but on the Main server. I had intended for this to A get more streamers for the town owner B get more players for the server and C karma.... (I'm being honest) So there was not trying to steal players from the server... I guess I caused some confusion. One thing which was also mistaken was that I damaged the server reputation. I never stated the servers name nor left any indication of what server it was, it was never intended to hurt the server in any way. Although I did list a server for a short time before removing it, it was lichcraft, which was actually quite an abusive server. Do I deserve a ban? 90% yes. Did I lie? Yes. Did I try to hurt the server? No. I know I'm going to get banned, but I do owe reddit an apology and also the server one. This whole event was built on some very un likely events that were blown out of proportion. I know this is going to get downvoted, but I also want others to see the "full story". Again I'm terribly sorry for all of this... :/

Yes agreed. I'm sorry if it was inappropriate, it won't happen again from us. We just felt a bit wronged (one nasty post of many I have seen kinda hit us and became real popular) - and I hope this could make up for it while also being a bit interesting to get the server admin side of things (doesn't seem to happen much) and let people know what we have to deal with too much. Never thought it would be this popular.

Reddit is really frustrating sometimes because of all the people that make up stories that they think are innocent. I don't feel confident when I read a story about someone with cancer nor a life story. No one can really get the benefit of the doubt without providing ample proof.

My rule of thumb is to directly donate to nonprofit organizations that I have researched (a little), never directly to a person. Want to help a homeless guy on the street? Give to a local homeless shelter. Want to help someone with cancer? Donate to one of these. Want to help someone who was banned from a minecraft server? Well, that's an outright bad idea without knowing them personally.

Just remember ladies/gents/kids of /r/minecraft - there are two sides of each story. Sometimes it's better to tell a boring, truthful story then an exciting lie!

Glad that some light could be shed into this situation - I have served as server staff before and whenever something like this arises lie or not. I know in my mind and heart that there is two sides to every incident, fight or tale.

Hmmm so glad that this is being resolved. I didn't like all this upheaval. Made me really sad, and I didn't really know who to side with (was siding even needed?) At the end of the day, we're all a big community that has to try and work together no matter our differences. It's the adult thing to do.
-thejaytendo-

No, but he sure acts like it. I don't understand, when I was in high school, I wasn't that stupid and immature to defame a community… Come to think of it, I don't think anyone I know was. It's something I would expect from a 12 year old, but you have to realize 17 is old enough to drive a car (where I live anyways).

If I ever got banned from a community, I would just move on. Communities have rules and expectations, and thinking you're above them shows that you are not mature enough to be part of the community.

http://imgur.com/FkOtwdf
From when he is ghosted on the server.
:P
Well due to a few server threats, it isn't really safe to give out the IP straight, but if someone has the slightest bit of brain they will have the knowledge to find the ip.
I am veteran rank on server c:
Gotta say that the admins handled this well, considering the situation.
BlessedFalcon has been a harassment, potion spamming, breaking multiple rules. This isnt just about the carrot farm, it's about a quality minecraft experience, and you can't get that with some annoying person messing it up.
BlessedFalcon IS now unbanned, although ghosted and limited to private messaging only for chat.
He has has a lot of warnings and chances, but every one he ruined. Why would you want an immature, harassing player on your server?
Also isn't it a biiit wierd having a big carrot farm as the #1 minecraft reddit post? :P

You shouldn't be too surprised. There's a huge population of Reddit users that will believe anything, especially when it comes to people that give a heartfelt story of how they were wronged and need help/money/place to stay/car/whatever. While many Redditors are happy to help others, many can't seem to take a second to confirm they're not just being scammed. We had multiple stories not so long ago that got this exact attention and made news worldwide actually.
Either way, it's good to hear the other side and I'm more inclined to believe your story than just some random "he build a big farm. Ban him, lolz" without thinking at the very least he built too close to something else or was a dick about something along the way.
Personally I'd ban him. So others might play the sympathy card at this rate, but he's clearly broken several rules and then tried to cash in on it all when he was given tons of leeway.

The carrot farm has been moved on request - http://i.imgur.com/PIbuk8M.png. The carrot farm creator is seen tending his field just in the top corner. 2802,-2277 for coords, world Etheria. Follow the rabbit (i.e. not being permitted to advertise server details so you'll have to dig around a bit.